Last quarter I wrote down my goals, but unfortunately got too busy to post them. Not this time. Here are my goals for the third quarter of 2014.

My intent in sharing my goals with my readers is to hopefully give you inspiration to create your own goals.

Big wins

Before I share my goals for the quarter, I thought it would be fun to share some of the big wins I had for the previous quarter. This is actually how we start every Strategic Coaching program and how I start my mastermind calls. We always like to share our big wins of the previous week or quarter to start us off on a very positive note.

1. Highest revenue month ever in the month of June, and I was only in the office for six days.

This was huge. Obviously, any time you have a record month that’s something to be excited about, but the fact that I could do so and only be in the office for six days is something that I’ve been working on for quite some time. Why was I in the office for only six days? See big win numbers two and three.

2. Two week RV trip with the family (longest vacation ever).

As a kid, I would go on a RV trip with my mom and my step-dad every summer. Those trips are some of the best memories I had as a kid. I knew that when my kids got older, I wanted to do the same thing for them, which we did the first two weeks of June.

It was one of the best vacations we’ve had as a family, and even more exciting, it was the longest one ever – 14 days. You can read more about it on my RV rental recap post here.

3. Delivered keynote talk with my wife (and rocked it!).

Three days after getting back from our RV trip visiting the Grand Canyon, my wife and I headed out to San Diego to deliver our first keynote talk. This was my third keynote talk that I have delivered, and the first time my wife has ever spoken at a conference.

She was a nervous wreck, but I knew that we would do well, which we did. We had a blast and I look forward to the next opportunity where we can speak together.

4. Newsmax.com

I was contacted by Newsmax.com after they found my book trailer video on YouTube. After a phone conversation with the CEO and the chief financial publisher, they agreed to buy 5,000 copies of my book to promote it to their list. Possibly interested in working with me more, they flew my wife and me down to Palm Beach, Florida, to stay at the Breaker’s Resort.

I didn’t even know what that meant until we got down there and was blown away on how nice it was, especially the homes that were a few miles away from us that range anywhere from $10 million to $40 million. Yes, we were in a rich country. Everyone we met at Newsmax was super nice, and I look forward to hopefully sharing future updates soon.

Here’s my interview that was on their TV channel:

5. In N Out Burger

If you don’t know, I’m kinda obsessed with In-N-Out burger. To see how obsessed I really am, read this.

Since it’s predominantly on the west coast, I don’t get to eat there as often as I would like, so every time I do get out that way, I make sure to stuff my face with their amazing burgers. (My stomach is hating me right now for even talking about it).

The best part about speaking in San Diego was I got to go to In-N-Out Burger. And not just once, but twice.

#heaven

On the way to the airport, we had our Uber driver pull over in front so we could snap this pic. He got a kick out of it and so did some people that were eating outside. 🙂

Now that we’ve looked at the previous wins from last quarter, let’s look at my goals for this quarter.

Goals for next quarter:

1. Complete site design for various web projects.

A couple of things I’ve realized with growing Good Financial Cents are that I have readers from all different ages. I have readers that are in their 20s; I have readers that are in their 70s. My content is so sporadic that sometimes the emails I push out are only relevant for a small fraction of the readers. In a way that segments my list better; I want to develop some other web properties that are a bit more niche focused.

Because of that, I’m launching retirementbyjeff.com and annuitiesbyjeff.com. I already have Lifeinsurancebyjeff.com that has been going for a few years now, and it seemed to make sense to only build these sites out more. Ultimately, I’ll be able to segment my list for those that are interested in retirement and annuities, so that people receiving my content are getting content that is specific to them.

In addition to these two properties, I want to rebrand my firm site, alliancewealthmgmt.com, to be more consistent with my other web properties. The one thing I’ve realized is that I do not have consistent branding across all my sites, and I’m looking to get that taken care of.

2. Launch independent insurance agencies.

I gave a teaser update on my Facebook fan page regarding another business that I created. That business is a local, independent insurance agency that I’m forming with two other partners. The managing partner is a buddy of mine that I went to high school with who was looking to go off on his own. I’ve always wanted to have an insurance arm to my financial planning practice, so after lunch, we came up with a plan to go into business together.

At this point in time, the LLC has already been formed, and we just got approval to have the agency started. By the end of the quarter, I’m hoping to have existing clients and actually having some revenue coming in the door.

3. Launch new direction for Dollars and Roses.

For anyone that’s been around me lately that knows all the things I’m working on, one of the things I’m most excited about is our Dollars and Roses blog. Dollars and Roses was started with my wife was initially a “make money blogging” site. After doing that for almost three years, we realized that it wasn’t what we were passionate about. I don’t want to spill the beans too much, but look for an announcement soon that talks about what the new direction will be.

4. Challenges, challenges, challenges.

Part of the new direction of the Dollars and Roses blog is encouraging our readers to take on new challenges. We felt that we couldn’t inspire people to take challenges unless we did some of the challenges ourselves. Currently the challenges that we’re looking to do in this quarter are a 30-day prayer challenger, a 30-day Paleo challenge, and a home de-clutter project. Look for future blog posts where we talk about these challenges, what we are hoping to accomplish, and what we’ve learned.

5. Lead first bible teaching at church.

After attending our summer church conference, I felt a nudge that I needed to do more and be more involved in our youth program. I talked to the youth pastor about the possibility of me leading a Bible teaching at a Sunday service with the youth, which he graciously accepted. I’ve never actually done anything like this, so I’m bit worried, but I’m also excited. Right now the date is October 12, so put on your calendars to stay tuned.

6. Groom my new intern.

At the beginning of summer, I was able to bring on a new intern from the university, and my hopes are that he’ll work out and eventually become a junior advisor. There’s still a lot more to be seen, but I’m enjoying the progress we’ve made thus far. We’ve developed a checklist of things that we want to get accomplished over the next quarter so that he feels more comfortable with what it takes to become a financial advisor.

1 Year Goals

1. Revenue from all businesses will exceed $1m per year

Do you know how weird it is for me to even say that? Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think that my businesses could make this much.

It wasn’t until I started my coaching program and I realized that I needed to start dreaming again that I believed I could actually pull this off.

Watch the video below that shares how I changed my mindset and starting dreaming again.

2. Complete Adoption Process

We’ve been in the process of adopting a child from the Philippines for almost two years now. We were hoping to have the child by this summer, but we still haven’t heard a thing. We’re hoping that God’s plan is that our child will arrive this year. You can follow our adoption process on my wife’s blog.

3. Plan a 1 month long vacation (preferably overseas)

My ideal country is Australia. This was actually a 1-year goal, but my wife thinks taking 3 young boys (current ages are 6, 3, and 2) and living abroad would be more pain than it’s worth. At first I dismissed it, but then I remembered how our 3 year-old can be a bit of terror.

The only thing that might prevent this is if our adoption takes place soon. If not, we may try to do another extended vacation like our RV trip. The only trick is getting my wife to agree to that. Haha…

4. Hire Junior Advisor For My Practice

I lost my junior advisor earlier this year and I’m badly in need of a replacement. Bringing in interns was my hope to find a worthy candidate. Why an intern? Because that’s exactly how I got my foot in the door at my old brokerage firm.

5. Weight will not exceed 205 lbs

I’m a Crossfitter, and I try to eat healthy, but my sweet tooth gets the best of me, especially when I travel. With our two week RV excursion, 4 day trip to San Diego, 4 day trip to Portland immediately followed by trip to Palm Beach, I’ve consumed my fair share of good food. The consequences of eating all that good food is that my weight is now hovering around 210 lbs when I feel I should be around 205 or less.

I’ve just started eating more paleo-ish and with my juicer and NutriBullet, I’m determined to keep my body weight closer to the 200 lb range.

6. Help build a school in another country

This is something that my wife and I recently got excited about it. This is still very fresh, so I don’t have a lot to report on it now. Stay tuned to my next update.

3 Year Goals

1. Revenue from all businesses will exceed $2 million

Remember my motto: “Dream Big”. 😉

2. Make my role with Alliance Wealth Management, LLC to be more of the face of the operation.

I will conduct review meetings and joint initial meetings with bigger clients, but most of the work will be done by my team. For this to succeed, I need to implement the plans stated in my 1-year goals.

3. Amazing adventures with my family

After our 1 month excursion of who knows where, I don’t want to stop there. I want to literally see the world with my family and have some awesome adventures together.

Lifetime Goals

1. Spiritual leader of my household.

I want my kids to see me first as a God-loving father who puts his faith first before success. I want to continually love and support my wife, and do so in a Godly manner.

2. Live a long and fulfilling life with my wife and family.

Raise my kids with the philosophies of working hard, but not sacrificing “work” for what you love; love first; and treat people with respect (Golden Rule).

3. Build business systems that require minimal effort on my part.

Have several multiple-system driven businesses that produce >$250,000 a month of passive income.

4. Live in multiple countries (5+) for an extended period of time (minimum 3 weeks) with entire family.

I love to travel and I love to spend time with my family. My belief is that if we travel as a family to foreign countries, we’ll be forced to spend some amazing quality time with each other. Our 2 week RV trip was our first test on this and we passed with flying colors. I’m excited for our next adventure!

5. Operation: #investNOW- Inspire over 1,000,000 people to invest in themselves.

This can be through traditional investing (Roth IRA, 401k), obtaining a higher degree or certification, or investing in a small business. If you need a jump start to begin investing in yourself, find out more Operation: #investNOW.

Your Goals

As a reminder, I revisit these goals every quarter and make changes accordingly. Revisiting these goals is what has been huge for me.

When’s the last time you wrote down your goals? More importantly, when’s the last time you’ve revisited them?

Free Download: Want the same worksheet I used to write down my goals each quarter? Grab my Goal Achiever Worksheet and put your goals into hyper drive. Download the free worksheet HERE.

Comments | 4 Responses

Paul J. Meyer (founder of SMI who helped thousands achieve their goals in life) often emphasized that if we are not making the progress in life we want it is because our goals are not clearly defined. I have learned the value of that also.

When we clearly define our goals and write out specific plans for reaching them we are well on our way to success. It looks like you are on the way.

I am confident you will do well and that your sharing these ideas will help others to do the same. Good Success!

Great wins (especially the In-N-Out twice!) and very inspiring goals! I am also obsessed with goals.

I have annual goals that I sit down and write a week or so before each new year. I also have long term goals that feels more like a bucket list. I try to revisit my goals once every quarter to see where I am at and/or if I need to make any changes to help me accomplish my goals.

I started planning quarterly goals instead of annual goals this year and it’s totally working (like, the valley girl in me is totally coming out!) I also started plotting 13+ years into the future, but not nearly as detailed as you have here. 😉 I think it’s awesome how things are falling into place for you, but you work hard and made it happen. Keep rocking!

Love this! What an awesome idea to share your goals like this. I do have my goals for this and next year written down and revisit them every so often but I haven’t sat down to do my 5 year or even 3 year goals. Something I know I need to take the time to do. Congratulations on everything you have accomplished. I have no doubt you’re going to knock out all your future goals including finalizing adoption. Keep rocking it!

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